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30 Security Dealer & Integrator / www.SecurityInfoWatch.com August 2018
Republic Elite recently began a
partnership with a Northern Califor-
nia homebuilder that will lead to the
installation of security/automation sys-
tems in about 500 new homes; in fact,
new home installations make up about
80 percent of Republic's business.
Motheral concedes his firm, founded
in 2013, doesn't make as much money
per new home as it does installing sys-
tems in existing residences, but he sees
payback in another way.
"Our goal is to make long-term cus-
tomers," he says. "We install systems
that are programmed by our techni-
cians in these new homes, so whenever
the buyers want anything for the next
10 years, they will be calling us."
Early and frequent contact with
homeowners is one of the big attrac-
tions for both Motheral and Page.
Typically, Page says, his team meets
with homebuyers several times while
their home is being built. Each meet-
ing provides a chance to sell more
equipment than the builder's standard
package includes.
KPS, which is almost a pure residen-
tial integrator, helps its homebuilder
partners create the standard. Page says
that usually includes a base hub, a few
security sensors, a thermostat and a
front-door lock. In a competitive mar-
ket, builders are careful not to add too
much to the price of their homes; how-
ever, they are open to integrators sell-
ing from an optional equipment list.
"We work with the builders to iden-
tify choices that fit with the budgets of
likely buyers in each new community,"
Brian Motheral
is general
manager of
Sacramento,
Calif.-based
Republic Elite
Integration.
Page says. "Light switches, indoor and
outdoor cameras, video doorbells and
garage door openers are the most pop-
ular optional choices."
Voice control, such as with Amazon
Alexa, is also popular; in fact, Echo
Dots have become a common move-in
gi from many developers. "It is a cool
idea because buyers are getting some-
thing that is useful and they didn't
expect it," Page says.
Page also says he likes to use
command buttons – small wired
or wireless units that can be placed
throughout a house to control individ-
ual connected devices and/or trigger
multiple device automations.
The RMR Hunt
Once homeowners move in, how do
these integrators create recurring rev-
enue? Professional system monitoring
is an obvious choice; however, most
developers do not want to saddle their
customers with an additional monthly
payment. Also, most security/automa-
tion systems include smartphone apps
that enable homeowners to self-moni-
tor alarms from cameras, video door-
bells and security sensors.
Both integrators use problems
such as misplaced phones and dead
batteries as sales examples that can
leave a home and family at risk. ey
say it has helped them to sell more
than a few monitoring packages.
Page adds that he is most successful
selling to older, move-up homebuy-
ers who generally have more dispos-
able income.
Motheral has looked into selling
maintenance contracts. He says an
industry colleague sells agreements
that include a home visit every six
months to "dust off and realign the
cameras and things like that."
Page thinks the new big source of
RMR in the residential market will be
network monitoring.
KPS uses soware to constantly
monitor the status of a customer's net-
work, ensuring security and automa-
tion equipment is always working. If
there is a network problem, KPS can
remotely reboot it. Page sees network
monitoring becoming a mainstream
offering for most residential integra-
tors within the next few years.
Residential Security
We work with the builders to
identify choices that fit with the
budgets of likely buyers in each new
community. Light switches, cameras,
video doorbells and garage door
openers are the most popular choices."
— Kirk Page, president of Ontario, Calif.-based KPS Alarms